Todd McFarlane
| image = File:Todd McFarlane.jpg | imagewidth = 225px | known aliases = None | roles = ; ; ; ; ; | place of birth = Calgary, Alberta, Canada | gender = | year of birth = March 16th, 1961 | year of death = | first appearance = ''Spawn'' #1 }} Todd McFarlane is a Canadian comic book artist, writer and businessman. He was born in Calgary, Alberta on March 16th, 1961. He is best known for creating the popular horror anti-hero Spawn. Though Canadian by birth, Todd McFarlane is the epitome of the American success story. While working as an in-house comic book artist for DC Comics, and later Marvel Comics, McFarlane began to develop a reputation for his stylistic illustrative techniques, which he employed on titles such as Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man. In 1991, McFarlane and several other disgruntled artists, separated from Marvel to form their own independent publishing company, Image Comics. Image's mission statement was to provide creator-owned projects for staff members, with each creator taking sole ownership of their intellectual properties. The flagship title for Image Comics at the time was Spawn, which is still in print today, which McFarlane wrote and illustrated. Spawn became a runaway success and helped turn the fledgling comic house into a juggernaut that dominated comic book shelves during the 1990s. Spawn spun-out into several offshoot titles and eventually received a video game, a feature film and an animated television series. Todd McFarlane went on to create Todd McFarlane Entertainment, which produced the Spawn feature film and animated series, as well as McFarlane Toys, which licensed several action figure lines for Spawn as well as other franchises. Body of work Film Television Video games Comics Incomplete; Link issues as they become available As writer As penciller As inker As cover artist As editor Notes & Trivia * Through his production company, Todd McFarlane Entertainment, Todd McFarlane received an executive producer credit on the Spawn feature film and the Spawn animated series. * A limited edition Todd McFarlane "Bum" action figure was produced to coincide with the Spawn feature film toyline. It was a low distribution and is considered a valuable and, at the time, highly sought after collector's item. * Is part owner of the Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team. * McFarlane is an avid baseball fan. He has bought, at auction, multiple balls from Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's 1998 race to establish a record for the greatest number of home runs hit in a single season. McFarlane owns Sosa's 33rd, 61st and 66th home run balls, and McGwire's first, 63rd, 67th, 68th, 69th and 70th. * Todd McFarlane designed the character of Necrid for the Soulcalibur II video game. External Links * * Todd McFarlane at Wikipedia * Todd McFarlane at AllRovi.com * Todd McFarlane at Comic Vine * Todd McFarlane at Comicbookdb.com * Todd McFarlane at the DC Database Project * Todd McFarlane at the Image Comics Database * Todd McFarlane at the Marvel Database Project References Category:1961 births Category:Producers